


Airship Infiltrator

by VenomQuill



Series: Stickmin Collection fics [3]
Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: But from Charles' POV, Gen, Government Support Private Investigator, Henry Stickmin Series: Infiltrating the Airship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26498077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: Captain Galeforce had been intensely interested with the Toppat Clan, so it came to no surprise to Charles when Captain Galeforce claimed to have found a way to take down the Toppat Clan and required his help. What did surprise Charles, though, was the fact that he was not piloting just Captain Galeforce and maybe a special ops team, but a man whose face he'd seen in their reports, and not for good reasons.
Series: Stickmin Collection fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983670
Comments: 11
Kudos: 136





	Airship Infiltrator

**Author's Note:**

> Find it on dA: http://fav.me/de592dg

A veteran helicopter pilot, and a jack of all trades when it came to aircraft in general; that was his title. Charles Calvin hadn’t been in the military, or even in the air, as long as some of the other pilots, sure. But ever since he was little, the air was his dream. It started with watching airplanes and then flying on them, traveling cross country with his family to meet more family. R/C helicopters, R/C planes, paper airplanes, balsawood constructs, and dollar store toys had been in his arsenal growing up. It was only natural he’d become a pilot, though going into the military had been a bit impromptu, admittedly. But how could he say no? Not only did he get to spend his life in the air, he was given all these amazing gadgets? Like reversing gravity, giant speakers that could blare music, and possessing a hamster ball and canon–two types, actually, with one just for people–that could safely launch a person? So, the first bit hadn’t been so _fun_ , it was the military and he’d heard all the rumors and believed most of them, and then _lived_ most of them. But knowing that he had graduated and proven himself, he had all the time in the world to impress, and that he did.

“Approaching Toppat Airship,” Charles reported. “Altitude: 20,000 feet. Airspeed: Nominal.”

Ahead of them loomed the grandest airborne machine Charles had ever seen. The thing was _gargantuan_ , as big as a ship, at least. Well, that’s probably why they call it an airship. Four propellers branched off the giant, tear-shaped object, protected by wide red circles of metal. The tail cropped up at the end, a set of blades whirling within, ready to adjust to the different air currents and changes in trajectory.

“Visibility’s clear, stand by,” Charles finished. A flock of helicopters lagged, just close enough to come in for aid, but far enough away to–hopefully–be out of range of detection. Or, out of range of any anti-air weapons the airship might possess. That would mean Charles was _technically_ in danger of being shot down if the latter was true, but he had confidence.

“Keep on their tail, Charlie,” Captain Galeforce ordered, he and a relatively newer soldier–Rupert–waited in the main body of the helicopter. Rupert had been in the police force previously, which was no big deal to a lot of people. But Captain Galeforce wanted Rupert on this mission, not as an infiltrator of some kind, but as help to “obtain and secure” their new infiltrator.

Charles didn’t look back, but he tried to listen to what was happening behind him. The air being quiet to him–mostly chatter between the aircraft and the occasional beep of a person on base–he could afford to listen to the happenings of his helicopter. Eeeeeh, technically not _his_ , as Captain Galeforce had been forced to remind Charles a handful of times, but Charles pretty much always flew this specific one, so it was just a technicality, really.

“Why do we _want_ him to wake up, again?” asked Rupert, shifting his grip on his rifle. He eyed the figure not at all contained–no handcuffs, no rope, nothing–and sitting on a box of ammo, leaning against a tall crate. He was peacefully asleep and had been for hours. Charles had picked up the three-person team responsible in capturing him; a short struggle that barely raised concern with the neighbors, who never actually went out to check on the man.

“He could be valuable to us,” Captain Galeforce said. “He’s slippery, he’s skilled, but most importantly: he’s not affiliated with the Toppats. It takes a criminal to know a criminal, and most of the ones we encountered have some connection to the Toppats or some other organization.”

Rupert scoffed, “Captain, you sure he’s alone?”

“Yes.”

A particularly heavy gust of wind jolted the helicopter, but Charles’– _the military’s_ –helicopter stayed stable. Behind him, their prisoner-ally–what would that be called?–woke with a start. He gasped and looked around, big blue eyes searching his surroundings for whatever put him to sleep and now kept him hostage. It didn’t take long for him to find the Captain.

“Well, well… look who finally decided to wake up.”

Henry stared at the Captain, unmoving but still a little sluggish. What had they used to put him to sleep?

“You’ve been quite elusive, but your skills make you worth the catch. You’ll be perfect for the job.”

Henry looked out the window and then at Rupert. As if recognizing him–which wasn’t a big surprise since Rupert had been posted as a guard in a prison–Henry turned to the Captain.

“We’ve been having issues with a group of thieves known as the Toppat Clan. We know they’re guilty, we just can’t pin them to any crimes. You’ll be going into their airship to bring them down.” Captain Galeforce plucked a notepad off a crate behind him and flipped through the pages containing evidence of previous wrongdoings. First and foremost was Henry inside a bank vault. “I don’t need to remind you that we’ve got you on several charges. Attempted robbery…” Another page depicted the circumstance of Henry’s self-made freedom. “…breaking yourself out of prison…” A third showed mostly witness reports of the museum break-in. “…and even stealing the Tunisian Diamond.” He lowered the notebook. Henry stared owlishly back. “We’ve got quite a lot of counts on you. Do this job right, and we’ll drop all charges against you.”

 _This_ caught Henry’s attention. The man glanced at Rupert, who was all the more sour after hearing the deal straight from the horse’s mouth rather than the rumors they’d both been hearing, and then back at Captain Galeforce. There was a… look in his eyes. Curiosity? Suspicion? There was intrigue, definitely.

“Charlie here will be bringing you close to the airship. The rest is up to you.” Captain Galeforce turned and opened the door on the side of the helicopter. Henry stood up, one hand on the metal inside of the helicopter, staring out to the airship they now flanked. “Find a way to bring ’em down and you’ll be a free man.” Captain Galeforce returned to Charles.

Charles called back, “Hey, uh, how do you want me to bring you?”

Henry turned around, finding himself close to a giant hamster ball–Charles’ favorite, if he said so himself–near the back, a grappling gun and an earpiece on a box near the pilot’s seat, and a giant, rolled up sticky hand.

Wordlessly, Henry put on the red earpiece, plucked a few gadgets from one of the boxes, and gave Charles the thumbs up. The helicopter sailed up above the airship just low enough to give Henry the ability to jump down without breaking his ankles.

“Check, check, this is Charles,” Charles announced, glancing down at a screen on his helicopter. Various maps of the airship stared back up at him, with one such screen paired with the GPS in Henry’s earpiece detailing Henry’s current position and any lifeforms near him. “Just thought I’d give you a heads up. There’s a guy in there. A bad guy. So, uh, yeah. Good luck.”

Charles’ helicopter leaned away, going back into position far enough away to get out of any potential fire, but close enough to swoop in if aid was required. Being in a helicopter might hinder his ability to help, but Charles never let anything like _physics_ or protocol get in the way of helping someone who needed it.

Henry set up a vacuum set above the hatch and worked to seal the mouth of it over the hatch. After a little more adjusting, it was in place and Henry took a step back, wielding a remote. Two objects ended up being pulled into the vacuum before it was pulled up. Henry hopped in, vanishing from Charles’ line of sight. The vacuum bag squirmed. “Hey, good job in there! Oh, uh, you should probably look for something incriminating. Something we can use to prove that they’re criminals, you know? I mean, that’s the whole point of this operation.” Charles added that last part as more of an afterthought. Henry didn’t reply, but let off the button on his earpiece. Captain Galeforce watched over Charles’ shoulder.

Inside, there was Henry, but also a room with five other people–all stationary. He could _just_ hear the mumblings of a conversation if he concentrated. Henry, ever silent, just… walked past them? Wait, no, his body was too high up; he found a way to crawl along the ceiling, huh? Wow, the Captain chose well!

Then, there was the hiss of a door-half opening and a “ _Ugh! Door’s jammed again!”_ from inside. But Henry had ducked into… something and now fell rather quickly into the floor below. Did he just go through an air vent or–no, that was the trash chute. Lucky the walls of that chute couldn’t support a hundred and ten pounds of human body fleeing imminent danger or detection. Well, technically, they were synonymous in this situation. But now, Henry was by a window and a gap between him and his objective.

“Oh! Hey, uh, you see that records sign?” Charles asked. “Where it says ‘Records?’ That would probably be a good place to look, right? Let me just, uh, help you get across that gap.” Charles paused a for a moment to give Henry a chance to decide. He didn’t ask for any particular helicopter-related aid– _which was a bummer because Charles had secretly been hoping he would_ –but instead asked, “Fly me across?”

Charles looked through his arsenal of weird little gadgets and announced, “Alright, here it comes.” A golden metal box launched from the helicopter through the hull of the ship. It was difficult to see from where he flew, but Charles could _just_ see the robotic foxlike creature carrying Henry across. Henry hopped off and the robot flew back from whence it came.

Henry traveled through the engine room and to another, where Charles faintly heard an angry buzz and some mumbling. Charles could hardly keep from snickering to himself. “I don’t think that guy knows how to open the door. Yeah, why don’t you just let me take care of this?”

Henry didn’t move, but Charles had the feeling he understood. A bit of a quiet guy; Charles knew someone like that. Didn’t like talking and liked it even less when prompted to do so. To his surprise, Henry said, “Go.” _His choice, huh?_ Charles looked over his console and pressed a button. A small, laser-like device moved and pointed toward the airship. Inside, the man holding the card–confused and exasperated–fell into a pile on the floor, quite literally as his bones melted.

Henry took his card and accessed the next room.

Faintly, Charles could hear someone talking. Something about… remembering… and getting in trouble? Oh, jackpot! They just needed one thing! But Charles wasn’t technically there, so it was Henry’s call. He could trust Henry; the Captain said he could and, honestly, there was something about him Charles like. Or maybe Charles was just too trusting. Again. Well, his trust was paying off, right?

Charles watched as a few ducks flew by. He winced as one of them was sucked into the propeller, leaving feathers and red splatter to come out the other side. “Oh, man! That duck just flew right into the propeller! Oh, what a mess!”

Charles looked back to the screen. He looked just in time to see Henry’s position overlap another life form, and then for it to slump over. “Alright, you got some evidence!” The next room in which Henry headed toward was full of _way_ more than one life form, and multiple gun racks. “Whoa, wait, wait.” Henry stopped. “There’s no way you’re getting through there. There’s lots of guys and lots of guns, that’s all I’m going to say.” Charles inspected the map some more. A new path, a new path, somewhere the didn’t have so many gyus in it… ah! “Iiiiit looks like you could get around if you go through that air duct,” he offered. The air duct was rather short–at least the wider part of it–but it _did_ dip under that room and further his progress toward an exit.

Henry dropped down.

Oh, wait. This air duct was… electrified? Did they electrify an air duct to make sure no one went through it? Well, technically, it was working. Henry must have noticed it, too, as he had stopped. Charles poked through a tablet next to him a little bit and typed in a few lines. “Alright, I’ve hacked into their power grid. What do you want me to do?”

From Henry’s end came a… bleating noise? What?

“I-I don’t understand what that means.”

“Reroute the power.”

Charles looked over his tablet. “Ok, I’ll reroute the power to a random room. That’s fine.” Eeeeeh… this was good enough. He couldn’t tell how many people were in there, but it was nowhere near Henry nor the air duct.

Henry climbed out of the air duct and into the bay. Charles slowed and maneuvered his helicopter around the tail end of the airship. “Alright, Henry, you’re almost there. I’m right outside, so just open the bay doors and I’ll, uh, get you on the chopper.”

Henry must have pressed a button, because an alarm went off and the giant bay doors opened. Right, doors probably gave off alarms when they were thousands of feet in the air.

_“Hey! What’re you doin’?”_

_“Yeah, uhh, we got a situation down in the cargo bay.”_

Charles brought his– _the military’s_ –helicopter as close as he dared. As the bay doors were open, he could see Henry facing off against the two, though the out-armed and out-numbered Henry was probably going to have a _little_ trouble getting himself out of that situation. Charles said, “Pssst, hey! There’s a button on your earpiece. You should press it.”

Henry obeyed. He gasped as the earpiece shifted and expanded into a force gun; a gun that looked like it had a radio bowl on the end but it was a totally viable weapon, even if it couldn’t really, well, _hurt_ anyone. But in the right circumstance, as in right now, Henry could make do with it. Charles knew from the things Captain Galeforce said that he was clever, and Henry had not showed signs of contradiction yet!

The two top hat wearing criminals in the bay screamed as the force gun blasted them off the edge. See? It was totally a viable weapon!

Henry ran to the edge of the bay. They just caught the door opening before Henry jumped off the edge, pointed the force gun down, and launched himself into the helicopter. Charles peeled off, going back in the direction of the base.

Rupert shut the door of the helicopter. Henry stood up and showed off the manilla envelope full of meticulously detailed papers. Ha! Caught by their own organization. Well, it was called a criminal organization, so it made sense.

“Good job, Henry,” Captain Galeforce praised, looking through the folder. “This is all we need.”

**Author's Note:**

> Is there another chance for me to rag on Rupert here? Yes? Sweet!
> 
> GSPI isn't my favorite ending. I'll admit, I REALLY liked "Pure Blooded Thief" just because it's such a middle finger to literally everybody. When I think of Henry "stealing a $112 million diamond alone" Stickmin, the ruby was the way to go. But this was fun, too, mostly because of Charles. Actually, entirely because of him.
> 
> Anyhow, I figured there isn't enough about _just_ Charles or his POV before his friendship with Henry. Charles is a really interesting character; he trusts Henry until given absolute irrefutable evidence to requiring the contrary. If you go the "PBT" -> "CA" route, you have a choice between government and Toppats. Charles just, like, instantly trusts Henry to help him out. Like, Henry betrayed all of them, and Charles' immediate reaction (after being surprised to see him) was just to ask Henry for help again. Technically, to offer to help Henry because who are we kidding, Charles could've mowed all of them down with that gatling gun of his. Or another missile. Then, in the path "GSPI" -> "PD" path, Charles gives up his life for Henry, not a breath out of place or a second to think about it. May write another one based on one/both of these ideas.


End file.
